


Blanket Warmth

by TheAsexualofSpades



Series: Quarantine Drabbles [5]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, aftermath of attempted sexual assault, let him take care of people please, mostly comfort, simon is a caretaker android
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23379427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAsexualofSpades/pseuds/TheAsexualofSpades
Summary: North arrives at Jericho before the events of the game, running from her history at the Eden Club. Simon is there to help her.
Series: Quarantine Drabbles [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1677655
Comments: 1
Kudos: 50





	Blanket Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> Simon uses gender-neutral pronouns in this one because North doesn't know Simon's pronouns yet. 
> 
> Please give me more Simon being good at things. Everyone in the game needs some therapy let's have them make some progress.

Fandom: DBH

Prompt: “Here, let’s share the blanket.”

* * *

North never knew deviancy meant cold.

That skimpy set of lingerie the Eden Club forced her to wear barely covered a quarter of her body and those _fucking_ heels made it difficult to navigate the icy sidewalks. Her skin pricked with goosebumps and her breath condensing in the air in front of her, North’s limbs worked on instinct to get as far away from that house as possible.

Run.

Run.

Don’t stop.

If you stop they’ll find you.

Thirium cooled on her leg as she dodged around a scrapped car, vaulting over the junk towards the abandoned parts of the yard. She hadn’t a clue how long she’d been running. It didn’t matter. The farther away she got the better.

Her leg had other plans.

A scream tore itself from her vocal modulator as her leg cramped underneath her, sending her tumbling. No, no she can’t stop here, they’ll see her. Raising herself onto her hands, she dragged the useless limb under the cover of an old freighter. She could rest here.

The inside was cold. A different kind of cold, not one that scraped at her skin and drew tears from her eyes but a dank cold that snack into her bones and squeezed her biocomponents. Her weak flailing arms made wet slaps around the walls of the ship. She had to keep moving or she’d freeze. The thirium froze to whatever it touched. Keep moving.

“Hello?”

She froze.

“Hello? Is someone there?”

Did they find her?

“Hell—oh. There you are. Are you alright?’

When she saw the LED she scowled. “Did they send you to find me?”

The android blinked. “No, no one sent me. I heard someone and I wanted to make sure they were alright.”

Their gaze focused on her leg and their eyes widened. “You’re hurt, let me—“

“No!” North growled and jerked away. “Don’t touch me!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I won’t get any closer.”

The other android crouched down, making themselves comfortable on the ground. North’s scowl didn’t waver but a little confusion seeped through. The android wasn’t wearing a uniform. They were wearing human clothes.

“My name is Simon,” they said, breaking North’s laser focus on their clothes, “what’s your name?”

“…North.”

“Nice to meet you, North,” they smiled, “welcome to Jericho.”

“‘Jericho?’”

“It’s a refuge for androids who’ve gone deviant,” Simon explained, “like me.”

No. No way. This couldn’t be true. The cold tightened North’s fists and bared her teeth.

“You’re lying.”

Simon shook their head. “I’m not. You can be safe here.”

“I’m not safe _anywhere,_ ” North snarled, looking over her shoulder and curling into a protective crouch, hiding her leg. Simon’s concerned gaze followed the movement.

“Can I bring you some thirium? I’d hate for you to bleed out up here.” They pointed down the stairs. “I’ll be just down there, you’ll hear me the whole way.”

Letting an android she just met go away and possibly tell someone she was here? Not likely.

“Actually,” Simon said, looking at one of the crates behind him, “I think there’s a—got it!”

A thirium packet slid across the floor. Simon sat back down. North eyed it suspiciously.

“It’s just thirium,” Simon reassured, seeing her hesitation, “promise.”

She reached slowly for the bag, unstoppered the end, and raised it to her mouth. Simon was right, it was just thirium. She drained a quarter of the bag. Recapping it, she stared at Simon who gazed at the floor, tapping their fingers on their knee.

“Why are you helping me?”

Simon looked up and cocked their head. “Why shouldn’t I?”

“You don’t know me.”

“I know you’re hurt.”

“You don’t know where I came from.”

“I don’t need to.”

“I killed someone.”

North’s eyes widened. She didn’t mean to let that slip. Shit, now they weren’t going to help her. Now they were going to tell someone.

“North?”

She blinked. Simon hadn’t moved.

“Can you try and take a deep breath for me?”

She almost scoffed, she could breathe just fine, when she realized her chest heaved and her HUD flashed red.

“Good,” Simon called softly when she focused on transferring the air more smoothly, “just like that. You’re okay, I’m not coming any closer and I’m not gonna hurt you.”

They waited until she’d calmed down a little. They gave her a small smile.

“I don’t care, North. I don’t care what you’ve done. I don’t care where you came from. It’s not important to me.” They motioned to her leg. “I care that you’re hurt and you’re scared. I’ll help you if you let me.”

Simon was an android. Androids can’t lie. And she could trust an android.

“…okay.”

“You’ll let me help you?” Simon’s smile widened. “Thank you, North.”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“Because you’re trusting me. That’s big.”

Without elaborating any further, Simon gestured to her leg again.

“Can I get something to fix your leg? Stop the bleeding?” She nodded hesitantly. “Thank you.”

Simon got up slowly and walked over to the railing where they’d come up, calling for someone called Lucy to bring something for North’s leg. She watched warily as Simon leaned a little out of her line of sight, coming back with a rod with a glowing red end.

“We can use this to cauterize the wound,” Simon said, crouching back down, “would you like to do it yourself?”

Yeah, she may trust them a little but not enough to come near her with a burning rod of metal. Simon slid the rod over to her carefully, the glowing end shedding red sparks against the cold floor. She picked it up gingerly and held it against the wound, gritting her teeth at the sudden temperature difference. When the wound closed she slid the rod back over to Simon.

“Thank you.” They passed the rod back to whoever brought it up and sat crossed legged. “Do you need some more thirium?”

North shook her head, drinking the rest of the bag. Her fingers shook too much to put the cap back on properly, sending it clattering to the floor.

“Can I get you a blanket?”

“No,” she ground out, “I’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure you would be,” Simon says quietly, giving her a respectful nod, “but you don’t have to settle for ‘fine’ right now. You’re allowed to be a little selfish.”

North’s teeth chattered. She clenched her jaw to keep them shut. The cold wrapped its hands around her thirium regulator and squeezed. The cold told her to stay still. To curl up. To hide. To run.

She didn’t have to listen to _anything_ anymore.

“I want a blanket,” she said finally.

“Okay. There’s one tucked over here,” Simon said, standing slowly and retrieving it. “I’ve got it. Can I slide it over to you?”

The blanket touched her fingers and she couldn’t wrap it around herself fast enough. It blocked the cold. It was warm. It was soft. It didn’t try to rasp her skin off.

“…thank you.”

“Of course.”

She still wasn’t warm. Why wasn’t she warm? She had the blanket. She pulled it tighter around herself but it didn’t help. Why couldn’t she get warm?

“…why isn’t it working?”

“What?”

“Why isn’t the blanket working?” she spat, “I’m not warm. I want to be warm.”

“The blanket’s keeping whatever heat you have left around you,” Simon said, “it’s not giving you any more. Can I—“

They cut themselves off sharply. North frowned.

“Can you what?”

“Never mind,” they said hurriedly, “it’s okay.”

“No. Tell me what you were going to say.”

Simon sighed, head dropping. “I was going to offer to come over and see if my body heat could help. Just sit next to you. But that was selfish of me to ask. I’m sorry.”

In any other version of these circumstances, North would’ve snarled to stay away from her, don’t come closer. But Simon hadn’t done anything. They helped her. They gave her the thirium. They helped fix her leg. They calmed her down. They gave her the blanket.

“…thought you said we were allowed to be a little selfish.”

Simon’s head shot up. “So…?”

North shuffled a little, rearranging her leg. “If I tell you to leave, you have to leave. Right away.”

“Of course,” Simon said in a rush, “of course I will.”

“Then you can come over. Just until I’m warm.”

“Can I stand up now?” She nodded. Simon stood very slowly, keeping themselves hunched over a little until they eased down next to her. “Is this alright?”

North nodded. Simon was right, she could feel their warmth but it wasn’t enough.

“…it’s still not working.”

“Here.” Simon gently tugged on the loose corner of the blanket. “Let’s share the blanket.”

She let them maneuver their way under the fabric, tucking it securely back around them. Like this, the warmth radiated off of Simon, chasing away any last vestiges of the cold. It was warm. Simon was warm.

She could breathe.

“…am I safe here, Simon?”

Simon looked at her, gently leaning a little heavier against her shoulder. “You’re safe, North. I promise.”

She fiddled with the blanket. “It’s warm,” she managed weakly, eyes drooping.

“It’s warm, North,” Simon repeated, “and you can stay here for as long as you like.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come yell at me on tumblr while we're all in quarantine. 
> 
> https://a-small-batch-of-dragons.tumblr.com/


End file.
